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Hundreds of thousands of Americans flocked to nursing schools over the past decade, drawn by the prospect of a well-paying job with a degree that takes as little as two years. But many have graduated only to find the goal posts have shifted, as hospitals seek nurses with more-advanced degrees, partly in response to an increasingly complex health-care system.

Robots are taking over our jobs. A 2013 Oxford study estimates that artificial intelligence (AI) will swallow up about 47% of all employment in the United States in the next 20 years.

But there are a few safe bastions left for humans — one of them is nursing.

The Oxford study calculated that nurses have less than a 1% chance of being automated. That’s because nurses have to deal with other people, care for others, and have to solve problems under a lot of pressure.

“If you want to become a nurse — and that’s for men and women — that’s a great profession right now,” Jerry Kaplan, author of “Humans Need Not Apply: A Guide to Wealth and Work in the Age of Artificial Intelligence,” told Tech Insider.

Kaplan’s not the only who thinks nursing would be a great career choice for people looking to avoid the coming hoard of robot workers.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics identified nursing as one of the fastest growing professions. The BLS estimates that registered nurses employment will increase by 19% from 2012 to 2022, a faster than average increase. For nurse practitioners, who can provide primary care and write medications, it’s almost twice the rate at about 33%.

Nursing is more than just a safe career bet against automation, it’s also a growing field with lots of opportunities — nursing shortages have come and go, but the current shortage is expected to grow far worse.

According to the American Association of Colleges of Nursing, many problems are compounding the nursing shortage. There aren’t enough faculty members teaching nursing, many nurses are nearing retirement, and aging baby boomers are putting a huge strain on hospitals.

For those too squeamish for hospitals — or who have heard one to many poop stories from the nurses they know — Toby Walsh, a computer scientist at the National Information and Communications Technology Research in Australia, told Tech Insider the most robot-immune careers are ones where employees have to be creative and be experts at interpersonal relationships.

His advice for a robot-immune career? “Go into the most people-facing, artistic, creative places that you can think of,” Walsh told Tech Insider. “The people who are in the most people-facing, sociological, empathetic jobs are going to be people.”

September 29, 2015: A new program is helping students get one step closer to filling the void.

CLEVELAND—There is a very dramatic shortage of nurses nationwide and right here in Northeast Ohio. But the lack of registered nurses (RN’s) also means there is great opportunity for people looking for a career change. A new program is putting students on the fast-track to help fill the void.

A Baldwin Wallace program is the only one of its kind in Ohio. Many people, with at least a college degree, can become a nurse in just one year. The pay is good starting at about $50,000 says the program’s director.

“It’s very intense. But the intensity is so good because it keeps us on our toes,” said Baldwin Wallace University nursing student Krista Zaharewicz. She is one of 32 students in her class with at least a bachelor’s degree, being fast-tracked to a nursing degree. And with success.

In the last two years, over 90% of B-W’s accelerated bachelor of science in nursing program grads passed the boards, surpassing state and national averages.
Getting more nursing grads into the pipeline is a big deal right now says program director James Fell. “The nursing shortage is regional. It’s more severe in some parts of the country than others.”

The head of B-W’s program isn’t kidding. The prediction is the 17-county region around Cleveland faces a shortfall of nearly 6,000 registered nurses by 2020. “It’s a transformation and it’s really an opportunity for registered nurses to lead that transformation,” according to Kelly Hancock, who is the Executive Chief Nursing Director at the Cleveland Clinic.

Look no further than the Clinic’s #nursesrightnow campaign, which has offered more than 550 nursing jobs to candidates at the end of three events held here in northeast Ohio.

MetroHealth is feeling the nursing squeeze too, offering opportunities for retired nurses to come back to work - and an intern program, in which they hire about 90 percent of the nurses they train.

The national landscape for nursing is just as promising. If you are educated here in the state, but for whatever reason have to leave it’s not a problem. Nursing is very much in demand. The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that nursing is in the top professions when it comes to job growth. And by the year 2022, RN’s are expected to grow by 19%.

If the numbers hold up, a future in nursing is certainly a bright one.

In January, even more nursing students will have a chance to participate in BW’s fast-tracked program. A second group of nursing students will form a hybrid “Designated Education Unit” at University Hospitals.The students will perform all clinical work exclusively at University Hospitals.

They’ll get one-on one training from nurse supervisors during the last semester --- and then have a chance at working for UH right after training.

Thinking about applying to graduate school? Whether you’re interested in pursuing a graduate nursing degree or attending law school or medical school, there are some big decisions to make. To help students find the right school for them, U.S. News & World Report surveys nearly 1,900 graduate schools and programs and ranks them according to our methodology.

Here, we offer a sneak peek of the 2016 Best Graduate Schools rankings.

U.S. News surveyed 503​ accredited graduate programs in nursing. In alphabetical order, here are the top 10 highest-ranked master’s programs in nursing.

Duke University (NC)
Emory University (GA)
Johns Hopkins University (MD)
New York University
University of California—San Francisco
University of Maryland—Baltimore
University of Michigan—Ann Arbor
University of Pennsylvania
University of Pittsburgh (PA)
University of Washington

The actual ranking and score of these and other graduate schools will be available March 10, 2015, on usnews.com. Use the #BestGradSchools hashtag to continue the conversation on Twitter and Facebook.

For more in-depth rankings, searchable data and an expanded directory of programs, sign up for the U.S. News Graduate School Compass.​

You can’t keep going on interviews with no idea of what an employer is planning to pay you if you get the job. You have to bring up the topic of salary.

If you need inspiration to ask the salary question, just think about a plumber.

The plumber isn’t going to come over and walk around looking at the work that a homeowner needs done without talking about money. Eventually the plumber is going to say “You’re looking at about ten thousand dollars worth of work” or the homeowner is going to say “How much is this going to cost me?”

They’re not going to dance around the topic and hope for the best. Only job-seekers do that, and only a certain kind of job-seeker.

The kind of job-seeker who doesn’t bring up salary during the hiring process and hopes that s/he gets a job offer with a reasonable salary in it is afraid. That’s the only reason to keep silent about such a vital topic.

The job-seeker is afraid that if he or she brings up the salary topic, the employer might not like it. They might get mad and cast him out of the candidate pool. That’s the fear. Think about it, though – that fear isn’t reasonable. If you’re thinking about working with people who would be so hostile and crazy that they’d drop you from a candidate roster just for asking about salary, why would ever consider working with them?

You arrive alone. Your heart is beating a little faster than normal and suddenly all of your charisma and charm go out the window. You try to lock eyes with someone so that you can find a temporary home in what can feel like a sea of strangers. But everyone looks happily engaged in conversation.

While this might sound like your experience at a middle school dance, it’s also what many people feel when they enter a networking event. These are completely natural reactions, even for the biggest extroverts. The great news is that people go to these events to meet strangers, so you’re in the same position as everyone else. Here are 17 helpful tips for navigating a networking event and making the most of your time there:

Find the bar! Whether or not you’re drinking, it’s always a great idea to position yourself at the edge of the bar. Many people run for the bar when they get to a networking event in order to get a short respite from an overwhelming entrance. If you position yourself a few steps from the bar, you can easily strike up a conversation as people turn with drink in hand.
Be yourself. Networking events are meant as jumping-off points for relationship building. If you can’t be yourself, you’ll be starting off these new relationships with a lie. Don’t try to be the person you think others want to meet. Be genuine. The people you connect with when you are authentic are the ones you’ll want to stay in touch with.

When I was 20 years old, I went to work at Citi for a summer internship. I didn’t really have a clue what I was doing, but I went to the office every day and worked on a basic scenario analysis project. I knew I could spend my summer half-assing my work or really, actually try to learn something.

I chose the latter. I went to all the speaker events, every lunch meeting, and all of those happy hours. I had lunch with different co-workers and senior leaders every day. I emailed and followed up with everyone I met.

All that persistence paid off — by summer’s end, I had one-on-one meetings with the CFO of Citi, the Chief Diversity Officer of Citi and more than 10 Managing Directors. Me! A 20-year-old intern! Some decade-long employees at Citi said they’d NEVER talked to that many senior leaders.

At the end of the summer, my Managing Director, Jaidev Iyer, announced “Erica, somehow you’ve been able to get noticed everywhere you go.”

I didn’t realize this was a gift until much later in life. When I was 27 and on stage at the World Economic Forum at Davos 2012, activist Desmond Tutu told our group of 70 Millennial leaders that we can lead a revolution in the world. That’s when it clicked for me.

But this blog post isn’t about me. Its about YOU. It’s about the fact that I’m not the only suburban-born, Indian-American girl who can get noticed. The truth is getting noticed isn’t much about me either. It’s about how I translate my gifts to others.

When we share ourselves in a genuine way, we build real relationships and create ways for others to help us grow.

Here are my top six tips on how to get noticed, get hired, or get just about anything you want:

Every time you meet someone, focus on how you can support them first. Give, give, get is a mantra that has helped me build deeper connections with others.
Be self-aware. Don’t ask for too much of someone at the beginning. Build the relationship and understand where they’re coming from.

I’ve heard from job seekers who simply didn’t know some of the things that will help them effectively job search. One person I spoke to recently didn’t know you should send a thank you note after an interview. Another wasn’t aware that he didn’t need to include all of his many years of experience on his resume.

Some of the things on the list are little things that make a difference. Others are significant enough that they can make or break your job search. Here are 15 things you should know about job hunting that will help you find a new job quickly.

You can save time job searching by using advanced search options on job boards. All the major job boards (like Indeed.com, SimplyHired.com, CareerBuilder, Monster, and Dice) have an “Advanced Search” option where you can search by keyword, location, a radius of a location, job title, company, type of job, date posted and other options. Here’s my list of the top 10 best job sites.

Applying for every job you find isn’t always a good idea. Focus your search on jobs that you’re qualified for. You’ll have a better chance of getting selected for an interview. Sending out random resumes and cover letters is just going to be a waste of time. Before you start job hunting, take the time to decide what type of job you’re seeking. Even better, come up with a target list of companies you’d like to work for and do your best to get noticed by them. Here’s how to get noticed by your dream company.

Don’t stop applying for jobs while you are waiting to hear back from an employer. Most job seekers are rejected by over 15 employers before landing a job. Learn from your mistakes, and keep applying until you get the right offer. Worst case scenario, you will be juggling multiple job offers. That’s a good thing.

Job searching has changed dramatically over the past few years. If you want to succeed, you’ll have to take a much different approach than you did previously. Here are 10 things today’s job hunters need to know:

1. Google has replaced the resumé. Recruiters are now using Google and LinkedIn searches to find talent, instead of paying for job-board or talent databases. Many companies are even mandating that every new application go through a Google screening process.

So that means the first page of your Google results matter much more during a job search than they ever did before. I’ve written an article showing how to increase your rank in Google and attract the attention of hiring managers.

2. A summary of your work history is enough. Because there are so many candidates competing for each job, HR people (or hiring managers, if they are tasked with recruitment) often scan resumes very briefly. The average time spent on a resume is 30 seconds.

LinkedIn gives you a way to create a summary; use it.

3. Social proof is a must. Social proof—the testimonials, endorsements and recommendations of your abilities that appear on social networks—seriously reduce the perceived risk of you as a candidate.

The most costly mistake a hiring manager can make is to give a job to the wrong person. Some say that if a new hire leaves within three months, it costs the organization one and a half times that person’s annual salary. And with the economy as tight as it is, you can understand why hiring managers are so risk averse.

If you don’t have many endorsements and recommendations in your LinkedIn profile, get some before looking for a job.

CampusRN members are students/alumni of the following Missouri schools (partial list):

Avila University
Barnes-Jewish College
Columbia College
Cox College of Nursing and Health Sciences
Graceland University
Hannibal-LaGrange College
Lincoln University - Fort Leonard Wood
Lincoln University - Jefferson City
Lutheran School of Nursing

Missouri Southern State University
Missouri State University - Springfield
Missouri State University - West Plains
Missouri Western State University
North Central Missouri College
Park University
Research College of Nursing
Saint Louis Community College
Saint Louis University

Southeast Missouri State University
Southwest Baptist University
Three Rivers Community College
University of Missouri - Columbia
University of Missouri - Kansas City
University of Missouri - St Louis
Webster University
William Jewell College